Dancing queens: Program gives disabled girls chance to be ballerinas

Dancing Dreams is open to girls between the ages of 3 and 17. (Hiroko Shono-Cheng/www.hirokophotography.com)

Like many little girls, Veronica Siaba dreams of being a prima ballerina, but cerebral palsy means the 14-year-old can't stand on her own.

Yet this week Veronica swooped her way through choreography for songs from The Producers and Hair.

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As she and dozens of other girls turned and leaped, with a little help, their smiles radiated like stage lights.

Veronica Siaba, 14, was with Dancing Dreams when it started in the back of Joann Ferrara's physical therapy office in Queens in 2002. (Hiroko Shono-Cheng/www.hirokophotography.com)

"It focuses so much on what they can do rather than what they can't do," said Veronica's mom, Maria Siaba, who was grinning too.

Queens-based non-profit Dancing Dreams enables about 50 girls between the ages of 3 and 17, all with mental or physical disabilities, to take the stage. Sunday, they performed an annual recital at the Mary Louis Academy in Jamaica Estates.

Cydney Tones and the other dancers adore their helpers, and the high school volunteers return the sentiment. (Hiroko Shono-Cheng/www.hirokophotography.com)

But soon many other lucky ladies will be able to join their ranks. Dancing Dreams is expanding to Manhattan's Upper East Side with new studio space in the City Museum of New York.

Pediatric physical therapist Joann Ferrara started the group in 2002 after a young patient dressed in a tutu told Ferrara that she wanted to be a ballerina but "nobody wants me." It broke her heart.

Sofia Eliades, 9, brightens up when it’s time for dance class, her mom said. (Hiroko Shono-Cheng/www.hirokophotography.com)

Thus, Dancing Dreams was born in the back of Ferrara's office with a handful of aspiring ballerinas, including Veronica of College Point, Queens.

"This is their chance to be a star," Ferrara said. "Really all I care about is that they have fun and are proud of themselves and their accomplishments."

Julia Lincoln, 11, loves to tell people about her dance class. (Hiroko Shono-Cheng/www.hirokophotography.com)

At a recent rehearsal, the girls who use wheel chairs, leg braces or crutches to get around, were assisted by high school-age volunteers. The mutual adoration was clear: The room brimmed with giggles as the girls wiggled into costumes covered in glitter and feathers. They shook pompoms and twirled batons while practicing big Broadway showstoppers, including numbers from A Chorus Line and Kiss Me, Kate.

"The girls are so hyper, even though there is something holding them back," said Daniela Montoya, 16, a volunteer who wants to be a special education teacher some day. "They're happy. To them it's normal."

Maya Vega practices in her rainbow tutu. She and her twin sister, Alexandria, both participate in the Queens-based Dancing Dreams program. (Hiroko Shono-Cheng/www.hirokophotography.com)

Little Sofia, 9, has a seizure disorder but you wouldn't know it when you saw her firmly kick her pointed toes into the air.

Large crowds give her jitters, but once the music starts everything gets going, "it's like she's in full swing and she doesn't want to get off the stage," said her mom, Margaret Eliades of Flushing, Queens.

Helpers assist the girls on stage, during their routine. (Jeff Bachner for New York Daily News)

More Information:

Dancing Dreams

Brianna Thomas is all smiles are she tries on one of her costumes for the recital. Dancing Dreams will start offering classes at the Museum of the City of New York in the fall. (Hiroko Shono-Cheng/www.hirokophotography.com)

23-91 Bell Blvd LL2C

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Performances included routines from major Broadway hits. (Jeff Bachner for New York Daily News)